


The Fallen

by AceGhostHost (Volumes_Too_Logan)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Cole's a sweet boy who's just trying to cheer Leliana up, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Leliana is trying her best, fluff at the end, they're both just very gay too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:53:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14481006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Volumes_Too_Logan/pseuds/AceGhostHost
Summary: Leliana ponders what she could've done to prevent Justinia's death and Josephine helps comfort her.





	The Fallen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nathans_tales](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nathans_tales/gifts).



> Commissioned by lovely my roommate <3 There definitely needs to be more Leliana/Josephine works in this world.

Leliana had been in the war room all morning. Various members of the Inquisition had wandered in an out, but all of them were smart enough to give her space. They knew not to bother her when she was lost in thought and that paired with her steady gaze on the point labeled “Temple of Sacred Ashes” meant everyone should avoid disturbing her at all costs. That is, everyone except for Josephine. No one knew how she did it, but Josephine Montilyet had a way of bringing Leliana back into herself. So when Cole noticed that not even subtle gifts of honeyed wine were helping to cheer her up, he found Josephine. It didn’t take long for the adviser to finish up what she was doing and head over to the war room.

The large doors gave a familiar creak as she pushed them open, but Leliana didn’t stir from her spot. Josephine hadn’t seen her all day and she looked haggard; not physically, the spy was always able to maintain a relatively pristine outward appearance, but rather mentally. Her eyes were downcast and every few moments they’d dart to another place on the map as though working out a mental plan of attack, or possibly retroactively creating an escape. Josephine let out a soft sigh and closed the doors behind her. 

“Leliana?” she asked as she neared the table. Leliana looked up, apparently surprised to not be alone. 

“Oh, Josephine,” she said, her shoulders relaxing. “What’s wrong?” Josephine gave a small, melancholic smile.

“I could ask you the same, I hear you’ve been sitting here all morning.” Leliana looked down at the map again, this time an act of avoidance rather than genuine interest in its contents.

“I… I have, yes.” She said with a sigh. “I’ve just been thinking… about Justinia. About what happened and why and how I could’ve--” she stopped herself, dropping her head in her hands. “I could’ve stopped them. I could’ve saved her. If only I’d been there, then maybe she’d have lived.” She said softly. “If I’d been there…”

“If you’d been there, you would’ve died,” Josephine said. Leliana looked up and saw a steely look in her eyes. “Whatever it was, whatever took her from this world, it would’ve taken you too. I know that this is something you think about often, and I know that there are a lot of things that you believe could’ve gone differently, but this is our reality, Leliana. I wish you’d let me carry this with you because it is not your burden to bear.” Her eyes began to tear up and Leliana felt her heart ache at the sight. 

“Please, don’t cry, Josie,” she said, standing up for the first time that morning. She hugged Josephine tightly and heard her continue to speak nearly inaudibly in her ear.

“I couldn’t lose you,” she whispered. The ache in Leliana’s chest burned as she let those few words sink in.

“I cause you so much trouble, Josephine,” Leliana laughed sadly, pulling away from the embrace. “You have so many other places you could’ve gone to, the whole world is essentially at your fingertips, yet you choose to stay here with the Inquisition. Why go through all this trouble when Orlais is just one letter away?”

“Because,” Josephine began, tracing her fingers across the map, “all of these other places in the world have one thing in common.”

“And what is that?” she asked, her eyes following Josephine’s hand across the map until it reached up and lightly touched her cheek.

“They do not have you,” she finished with a smile. Leliana felt as though her heart might burst. After all this time of mourning for what she’d lost, she’d nearly missed what she had. Josephine’s smile, a genuine smile that reached all the way to her eyes, caused Leliana to blush. She couldn’t help but smile back as she touched Josephine’s hand resting on her cheek.

“Josie, I… I’m sorry for having been so disconnected of late. It’s just that it’s difficult some days, when all I can hear is her voice or see her smile, to move on through this present we are living. I know that there’s nothing I can do about the past, but that doesn’t mean that I can stop wishing I _could_ change it.” 

“And there’s nothing wrong with that, my dearest, but it tears me apart to see you trying to bear this alone. You should not feel as though you must keep it inside, you should be allowed to properly grieve and express what you’re feeling, I don’t want you to feel as though you have to do this alone.” Josephine leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before meeting her eyes once more. “You aren’t alone, Leliana. I will always be here with you.” 

Leliana smiled and kissed her again, feeling her face burn hotter as a tear escaped and raced down her cheek. She might not be able to change the past, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy the present.


End file.
